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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27085390">puzzle pieces</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/epicmoonintensifies/pseuds/epicmoonintensifies'>epicmoonintensifies</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Childhood Memories, F/M, Identity, Love Confessions, Mistaken Identity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 02:28:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,049</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27085390</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/epicmoonintensifies/pseuds/epicmoonintensifies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sentence Prompt: "That wasn't a mistake. That was me, hoping you would notice we fit."</p><p>Fifteen-year-olds make silly mistakes, like kissing their best friend, and falling out of contact with their best friend, and never bothering to ask their best friend if that whole kissing thing was okay.</p><p>Adults also make mistakes, like not recognizing their best friend, and going along with the social interactions of a total stranger who is not recognizably their best friend, and not asking a total stranger if that whole kissing thing was okay.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bartholomew Oobleck/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>puzzle pieces</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p></p><div class="">
  <p> </p>
  <p></p>
  <div class="">
    <p>To be honest (to be very, painfully, woefully honest, to the point that you were so embarrassed that you would rather lie to yourself every day for the rest of your life than be this honest about such a sensitive topic ever again), you couldn't remember meeting Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="">
    <p>Which was <em>ridiculous</em>.</p>
  </div>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He was really hard to miss. Even if he just ran past you in a greenish blur, everybody knew without looking that <em>that greenish, coffee-scented blur was Dr. Oobleck</em>. Everybody knew. Except, apparently, for you, because you could not remember meeting, even in passing, this freakishly adorable man. Which was not only embarrassing, but it was about to get you in trouble, because he had just said,</p>
  <p>"Remember when we met?"</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>
    <em>No, Dr. Oobleck, I don't remember, which is the weirdest thing, but no matter how much I try, I cannot remember ever shaking hands with a coffee-scented blur before.</em>
  </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Yeah, that probably wouldn't make him feel too good, would it?</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p><em>Oh crap</em>, you thought, staring back at him as he looked at you expectantly. No, <em>no</em>, you did<em> not</em> remember when you met him, holy <em>crap</em>.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Pause.</p>
  <p>Rewind, for a moment.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You and Dr. Oobleck were friends. Very good friends.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>As far as you could remember, the <em>first</em> time you met him, he had zoomed up to you, shouting your name even though you had never been introduced, and then proceeded to hug you like you had just come home from war. And despite being more confused than you had ever been in your life, no one had ever been that happy to see you in... well, your life. And it wasn't as if he had the wrong person, because he picked you out of a crowd and got your name right and proceeded to call you by a nickname that you hadn't mentioned in any of your interviews before getting hired to work on-staff at Beacon.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>So Oobleck definitely knew you. That was not in question. But you couldn't remember him for the life of your mother. That said, you didn't know how to say,<em> 'no, I don't know you, person who is so freakishly happy to see me</em>,' so you let him cling to you for the rest of the day. His joy and energy were infectious and within ten minutes, you were pretty sure that this guy was a good candidate for the best friend position that he seemed to think he already had in the bag.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He was <em>actually</em> your new best friend within about a week, and he might have earned that position by being the sweetest cinnamon roll you had ever met, as well as by always being around whenever you needed him and even whenever you didn't. He picked you over... everything. And everyone. You had actually had to remind him to pay attention to his students instead of you a few times, which was funny, but mildly concerning. And the more time you spent with Oobleck, the more you realized that he knew you.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He <em>really</em> knew you.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He knew all your favorites, and he caught all your little inside jokes that you had been laughing about since you were twelve, and he knew what you were scared of and what foods you hated and the <em>names of your parents</em>, for <em>Oum's sake</em>.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>But, back to the present.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"Remember when we met?" he asked so suddenly and so casually that you almost didn't register what he said.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"Um," quothe you.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>And, at that moment, you tried to figure out, at lightning-speed worthy of Oobleck himself, and acceptable way to get out of this without lying. Because thus far, despite the misunderstanding, you had yet to lie to Bartholomew. You had managed to avoid that so far (albeit with some difficulty), and you weren't about to lie to him now. You couldn't. It just wasn't right.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"I..." Your heart pounded. You couldn't do this. You could<em> not</em> do this. "I, uh, I'm kind of fuzzy on that, really... I don't remember a lot of stuff from back then, actually..."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Which had to be true, because you didn't remember Oobleck, who acted as though he had been a very present part of your life years ago. And you were sure it was years ago, because he had many times lamented (and you had many times apologized for) the fact that the both of you hadn't stayed in contact 'all this time' despite being so close. You were pretty sure that it had to have been during your years in Signal Academy. You had ended up moving before you could finished there and attended Sanctum Academy in Mistral before graduating to Haven, but...you hadn't really gotten close to anybody in Sanctum. Signal, though... there had been a few. None by the name of Bartholomew Oobleck, but he had to be in there <em>somewhere</em> and you just weren't remembering him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"Oh, that's too bad," said Oobleck, shaking his head. "We had so much fun. But I was so much trouble back then! You got me on the straight and narrow, you know. I'm surprised youevenrecognizedme when you got here!"</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Well... okay, that was a bit too on the nose.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"Really..." This was your chance. Maybe you could fix this. "Y'know, Barty, I have such a hard time remembering a lot of that... so, uh, why don't you tell me about it? I bet it'll jog a few memories if you, uh, tell me some stories."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p><em>It had </em> <strong> <em>better</em></strong><em>.</em></p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"I'd love to." And he looked like he honestly meant it. Which he probably did. If you had learned anything about Bartholomew so far, it was that he always had something to say, and he quite liked saying it. "Well, when we met, I was... well, you know, beingfoolishandtryingtogetaway with <em>smoking</em> outside the dorms, as usual, and you caught me, and- <em>yourememberwhatyousaid</em>, don't you? That I was- that I was being stupid and that if I really just <em>had</em> to smoke, I should do it on the roof..."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>
    <em>What.</em>
  </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"And you ended up taking the cigarette away from me anyway," Oobleck continued, completely unaware that you were going into a state of shock. "And you would take my cigarette away every time you saw me after that, and I think I started smoking even more just to get you to talk to me..."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You remembered this. You remembered all of this. But that boy with the reeking cigarettes and the silver studs in his ears had not been <em>Bartholomew Oobleck</em>.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"I thought quitting smoking would be worse than it was but youwereso<em>happy</em> when I did that I didn't care and you touched me more often when I didn't smell like smoke, so that was probablythebestdecision I ever made..."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>That boy's name had been Blecky, or so everybody said. He had been an extremely talented problem child who just needed some attention for something other than his combat skills, hence his rebellious attitude... He had just wanted somebody to notice <em>him</em> instead of his fighting prowess, and <em>you did</em>...</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"And you took me to the Vytal Festival less than a week later and you said it was a reward for quitting and I was so happy to be going with you that I didn't care why..."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>That boy had been your best friend for all your time at Signal. And he had been so much more than that.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"But I'm sure you remember that one time weweresetuptosparagainsteachother and it went on for over an hour because neither of us couldwinbecausewekneweachother'smovestoowellandMr.<em>Azurelookedlivid</em>, I think he thought we were cheating..."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Holy Oum.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You should have known, you should have <em>immediately known</em>, he was so... <em>him</em>.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Oobleck. Blecky. <em>Duh.</em></p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Bartholomew Oobleck was Blecky. Blecky, that one punk with the spiked up green hair who had been <em>stupid</em> enough to smoke within sight of Mr. Azure's office. Blecky, with the pierced ears and the eyeliner and the threadbare shirts. Blecky, who had never actually said his full name to you and fully expected you and even the teachers to call him Blecky (you did, they did, everybody did, holy Oum).</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Blecky... who had held your hand and given you your first kiss when you cried about having to move to Mistral.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"Blecky," you whispered. It was real. It was very real and you didn't know what to do.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Oobleck lit up like a caffeinated Christmas tree.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"Oh!" he exclaimed. "I haven't heard that in years! I was wondering if you'd say it."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"Blecky." You felt your eyes sting with tears as the full impact of this discovery made itself known to you.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>This man was that boy you were in love with. Bartholomew was the one.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"You <em>kissed</em> me," you said, almost accusingly. "The<em> day</em> before I had to leave, you kissed me."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"I..." Dr. Oobleck, Barty, <em>Blecky</em>, blushed pink across his cheeks and looked down bashfully at his mismatched shoes. You could see his ears turning red the same way they did when you had scolded him for smoking all those years ago. "Well, yes." And then he blinked rapidly, looking back up at you with something akin to horror. "You didn't– you didn't <em>forget that</em>, did you?"</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"No, I didn't forget my first kiss, I just didn't... I didn't think about..." You sighed. How were you supposed to say this? "I didn't think about it being <em>you</em>. You're really... <em>really</em> different, Blecky."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Because Blecky never drank coffee, and he never zipped around like a hummingbird, and he never showed the slightest interest in history, and he wouldn't have been caught <em>dead</em> wearing a tie, much less a bright yellow one, and <em>yet–</em></p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"Well..." Bartholomew ducked his head down sheepishly, offering you a small smile. "I became a person I thought you would be proud of."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p><em>"Are you </em><strong><em>proud</em></strong><em> of me?"</em> he had asked you the day you took him to the festival. It had been said in such a mocking way, like he thought you were silly for caring, but you <em>did</em> care and you knew that he cared too, no matter how he acted.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Now, he was obviously... more open about such things.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"I was always proud of you," you admitted.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The thing was that you were too old to still have a crush on a fifteen-year-old boy, first kiss or no. But that boy wasn't fifteen anymore. He was a grown man, and he was your best friend, and he was sort of... perfect.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p><em>Oh </em> <strong> <em>no</em></strong><em>.</em></p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>
    <em>Feelings coming along the portside bow, abort mission.</em>
  </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"Well, silly boys make mistakes," you said, as if you were graciously giving him an out to escape the blame of what his teenage self did. "Like kissing your best friend. But it<em> did</em> make me feel better!"</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>And at that moment, you immediately realized that you had said the wrong thing, because you could see Oobleck's expression <em>break</em>.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p><strong>"That wasn’t a </strong><em><strong>mistake</strong></em><strong>," </strong>he exclaimed, the hurt in his voice making the words waver and strain. <strong>"That was me, hoping you would notice we fit.”</strong></p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"We were fifteen," you argued.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>But you really didn't want to argue.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"What does that have to do with it?" he asked, sounding as incredulous as he looked, and he rather looked like an offended, heartbroken owl.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You shrugged so harshly that it hurt your shoulders. "I don't know, I just... You don't... It was a long time ago! And we never talked about it! We never talked <em>again</em>! And you're completely different, we've <em>both</em> changed, and nobody would expect you to w– I can't actually ask you to..."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"To what?" he asked. He reached out and took your hand in his. You let him. "To wait? Because we were young, I should have forgotten? Don't be foolish. I could never forget, and I have waited all these years because I knew you were worth waiting for, and I had faith that you would find your way back to me. And you did."</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He pulled you closer. Almost too close. And you could see the smallest tremble in his frame.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"We were <em>fifteen</em>," you said, just reminding him, just giving him the chance to blame it on teenage stupidity and walk away, <em>but–</em></p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He gently pulled your hand up to his mouth and kissed your palm.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>"And I'm still in love with you."</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
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